Ben Cohen shivered involuntarily as hail rattled the window panes at England's team hotel this week. "It was a bit like this in 2000," he muttered, stirring old ghosts of Edinburgh past and, specifically, England's notorious grand-slam demise of six years ago. As one of only two survivors in tomorrow's visiting starting XV - Mike Tindall is the other - he knows what northern exposure feels like.

The question, of course, is whether Cohen and his unbeaten England colleagues will freeze again if conditions turn similarly ugly. The best-case scenario, given the 5.30pm kick-off, is that Murrayfield will merely be a chill-fingered mausoleum, no place for wings patiently waiting for a pass. At worst, with Scotland itching to renew international rugby's oldest rivalry, all the ingredients are in place to test Cohen's renewed love of rugby following his well-publicised post-World Cup burn-out.

The Scots, though, will encounter a subtly different Cohen this time, albeit one familiar to his Saints club-mate Sean Lamont on the opposite flank. Physically the 27-year-old looks not dissimilar; his programme weight of 100kg (15st 10lb) is exactly what it was six years ago. But lately an emotional load has been lifted from his muscular shoulders.

He has regained his England place, rediscovered the way to the try-line and come to terms with the devastating loss of his father, who died just over five years ago following a fight outside a Northampton nightclub. Last Saturday week in Rome against Italy he won his 50th cap; he now needs only two more tries to become the second most prolific Englishman of all time behind Rory Underwood. With apologies to John Le Carré, he is the try-scorer who came in from the cold.

Cohen even feels that way himself, suggesting tomorrow's game feels almost like a second debut. "It's fantastic to get 50 caps; not many people have done that," he explained. "But now it's like my first cap again. People have even been saying to me: 'Hey, you could be a OCW [one-cap wonder].' That's not a bad way of looking at it. In a strange sort of way, I actually believe it's true."

The obvious comparison is with a batsman taking fresh guard after he has reached his half-century, although Cohen claims to "know nothing about cricket". He prefers horses and motorbikes and the exhilarating feeling of launching himself into midfield gaps with the kind of exquisite timing that created Mark Cueto's finely worked try in Rome. Tell him it seemed a prime example of a training-ground routine unfolding perfectly, though, and he seizes on it as some kind of lazy assumption that the opposition were not up to much. Neither did light-hearted teasing about Lamont scoring four tries to his one against Saracens last week amuse him. He is less prickly with the press than he used to be but a certain degree of suspicion clearly lingers.

Otherwise, having been left out of the Lions squad last summer and thereby enjoying a three-month break, he is relishing his second coming, wherever it takes him. "Doing a job you love is enough motivation. Last year I wasn't playing very well and it was obvious I needed a break . . . after eight years of constant rugby I was emotionally and physically drained. Having had that break, I feel a different person. I really enjoy rugby again. It's like chocolate. If you eat it every day then, after about a week, you'll be thinking: 'I've had enough of this.' Doing something for eight years, day in day out, got too much. Now I've got my appetite back."

The result, after spending a happy summer cutting wood, mowing the grass and tending to the 17-acre property he shares with his wife Abi, is that he secured a recall against Australia in November and scored his 30th Test try.

"I thought I'd missed the boat before the autumn internationals but I got called in and thought I did myself proud." Part of him would like another break this summer when England are due to face the Wallabies in two June Tests in Sydney and Melbourne. "I know the benefits of rest now. But that's Andy Robinson's prerogative. If he wants to rest someone, that's his call."

This weekend, though, all that matters is keeping the Scots, and Lamont, at bay. "It's your job to build these things up but I'm happy for Monty; I think he's benefited massively from playing south of the border. He is a world-class player who was unlucky not to go on the Lions tour." From experience he also knows what a committed Scotland side can do when the mood takes them, as it clearly did in 2000 when Cohen was replaced before the hour mark.

"It was my first season with England and, looking back, they played the conditions really well. We weren't very smart and the better team won. But we learned from it. We all hurt in some sort of way and that defeat was a stepping stone to what we subsequently achieved at the World Cup." Stopping "Big Ben" second time around may be a little harder.

That sinking feeling

The last time England were defeated by Scotland was at Murrayfield in 2000 when Duncan Hodge scored the try that in wretched conditions wrecked England's hopes of a grand slam. England had headed north as overwhelming favourites but Clive Woodward's side lost 19-13 in teeming rain. Only Scotland's Chris Paterson and Jason White and England's Ben Cohen and Mike Tindall survive to make tomorrow's starting line-ups.